Woman, boyfriend charged in hit-and-run that injured Ridley Park teen

A Ridley Park couple was charged Wednesday in a hit-and-run crash in April that resulted in the partial amputation of a teen bicyclist’s right leg, among other lingering injuries, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan and Ridley Park Police Chief Mark Bascelli said at a joint press conference.

Christopher Brooks, 18, of Ridley Township, was struck down by a silver Ford F-150 driven by 25-year-old Adrienne McCrae, who fled the crash scene on Chester Pike in Ridley Park and then with her boyfriend, 31-year-old Ty Winsheimer, engaged in a cover-up that extended into New Jersey and Virginia, Whelan said.

According to Whelan, the couple allegedly hid the vehicle in Norwood and New Jersey before selling it to “Joey the Junkman,” a dealer in Virginia, for $350. Though it was altered and spray painted, he said the recovered truck was matched by pieces of a bug reflector found at the crash scene.

“It boggles my mind that this can happen,” Bascelli said, referring to McCrae allegedly leaving an accident scene, as well as the lengths the couple later took to ditch the striking vehicle.

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Brooks, who lost his right leg below the knee among suffering other serious injuries, has a long road to full recovery, according to Whelan. Still undergoing rehabilitation, the teen was back in the hospital Wednesday for a procedure, noted Bascelli.

Calling it a “complicated case,” Whelan said investigators doggedly tracked leads provided by numerous witnesses, and waded through a series of lies told by the defendants during the course of the probe.

The investigation, led by Cpl. John Morris of the Ridley Park Police Department and Detective Anthony Ruggieri of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation, ultimately traced the truck in question to McCrae, Whelan said.

McCrae, a local bartender, was at her attorney’s office in Media when investigators arrived with an arrest warrant. Charged with accidents involving death or personal injury, hindering apprehension/providing false information to law enforcement, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, failing to stop and give information or render aid, and failing to notify policy of an accident involving injury or death, she was remanded to the county prison in lieu of bail, set at 10 percent of $80,000 at a preliminary arraignment before Magisterial District Judge Jack D. Lippart.

Winsheimer, who Delaware County authorities said previously served as a police officer in Virginia, was arrested at his residence on Chester Pike in Ridley Park. Charged with hindering apprehension/providing false information to law enforcement and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, he was released on $25,000 unsecured bail, set by Lippart.

A witness who was driving west on Chester Pike behind the striking vehicle, stopped to assist Brooks and called 911 to report the crash, which occurred April 21 at about 10:50 p.m. That witness described the hit-and-run vehicle as full-size, gray or silver pickup truck, possibly of Ford F-150, with dark, tinted rear windows.

Investigators began receiving numerous tips regarding a silver Ford F-150 with an extended cab, usually driven by a female. Several of tipsters, who were known to investigators and deemed dependable sources, identified McCrae as the driver, according to the affidavit of probable cause for arrest, written by Morris and Ruggieri.

As part of a search of PennDOT records, investigators found that McCrae’s father, John, was the registered owner of a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup. John and Adrienne McCrae were interviewed separately on April 27 and, according to the affidavit, gave conflicting information as to the whereabouts of the truck in question. However, they both said Adrienne was the regular driver of the truck since her car had been totaled in a previous crash.

Adrienne McCrae told police during that interview the Ford truck “broke down two or three weeks ago in Virginia,” so she left it there, though she declined to say specifically where, according to the affidavit.

Adrienne McCrae was interviewed again on April 27, this time in the evening at her apartment, in the presence of Winsheimer, her then live-in boyfriend. During that second interview, she said she had no knowledge of the April 21 crash and that her truck was “not even in the area” on that date.

According to the affidavit, Winsheimer backed up his girlfriend’s statements.

As the investigation continued, authorities learned from several witnesses that McCrae had been in two bars for at least two hours preceding the crash, the affidavit states. The same witnesses told police that on the evening of April 21, they met up with McCrae at a Dolan’s Bar in Ridley Park, which is located about four blocks from the crash scene.

“At McCrae’s urging, they decided to leave Dolan’s Bar and go to Durty Nelly’s Pub (in Ridley Township,) located about one mile way,” the affidavit states. At the time, they were driven by McCrae in her silver Ford F-150 extended cab pickup truck.

According to surveillance video, the group left Durty Nelly’s at about 10:34 p.m. to drive back to Dolan’s Bar, the affidavit states.

“According to a witness, McCrae left Dolan’s Bar in a hurry and close to the time of the accident,” the according to the affidavit.

Though Winsheimer had initially backed McCrae’s statement, he later came forward saying he had lied and apologized, the affidavit states.

During an interview on June 6, Winsheimer said McCrae contacted him and admitted to striking the victim. He also said he helped McCrae hide the truck in the rear of her father’s house the night of the crash. He later drove the truck to a storage facility in New Jersey, where it remained until April 26 when it was driven to Virginia and sold as junk.

Attorney William Davis Jr. said he and John List were retained by McCrae after she learned that she was a suspect in the investigation.

“She is cooperating,” he said.

Davis said he had just received the affidavit of probable cause and was still in the process of reviewing the lengthy document.

“We want the facts to come out in court,” he said.

Davis noted McCrae has never been in trouble before, paid her own way through college where she majored in international business and minored in Spanish.